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Dec. 13, 2021 By Allie Griffin
A former NYPD officer who once served as a bodyguard for El Chapo’s wife was indicted Friday for allegedly transporting cocaine throughout Queens in 2019.
Ishmael Bailey, of Staten Island, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on charges of selling and possessing a controlled substance, receiving bribes, conspiracy and other crimes after he allegedly agreed to deliver cocaine around the borough in exchange for cash.
Bailey, 38, was caught in a sting operation by fellow NYPD officers who posed as drug dealers and paid him cash to move the drugs between August and September 2019. He was arrested soon after and then resigned from the police department.
The former cop first met with one drug dealer — who was actually an undercover police officer — on Aug. 27, 2019. He allegedly agreed to provide security to various dealers who were transporting cocaine across Queens in exchange for cash, according to the charges. He was paid based on the number of kilos he securely transported.
Days later, Bailey met with the same “dealer” on Sept. 4, 2019 in Astoria. He allegedly held open a duffle bag as the dealer placed three packages — one kilo of cocaine and two fakes — inside. He allegedly transported the bag to a parking lot in College Point where another individual — also an undercover officer — met him and took the bag. He was paid $2,500 for moving the cocaine.
About a week later, Bailey again agreed to move cocaine for cash. He met with the same undercover officer posing as a dealer in Astoria and was given $10,000 in cash to pick up two kilos of cocaine from a location in Maspeth, according to the charges. Bailey went to the designated meeting spot and gave the cash to a second individual in exchange for the two kilos of cocaine — one of which was a fake.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz condemned Bailey for abandoning his duty to enforce the law.
“This defendant, who took an oath to uphold the law, is alleged to have helped protect ‘drug dealers’ and to have personally transported cocaine from various locations in Queens in August and September 2019,” Katz said. “I would like to thank the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau for their hard work investigating this case.”
Bailey was arraigned Friday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Gary Miret on a 13-count indictment charging him with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, official misconduct, bribe receiving in the second and third degree and conspiracy in the second and fourth degree.
Miret ordered him to return to court on March 8, 2022. Bailey faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
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